DOD nominees heading to Capitol Hill for hearings

The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled to hold a nomination hearing Tuesday for several senior Pentagon positions.

Appearing before the committee will be Alan Shaffer, nominated to be deputy under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment; Veronica Daigle, tapped to be assistant defense secretary for readiness and force management; Robert McMahon, nominated to be assistant defense secretary for sustainment; Casey Wardynski, picked to be assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs; and Alex Beehler, nominated to be assistant secretary of the Army for energy, installations and environment.

Lawmakers have been trying to move quickly on President Trump's defense nominees. The White House, for instance, only announced Trump's intent to nominate McMahon last week.

Should the nominees be approved by the committee, they will join a long list of others waiting to be considered by the full Senate, including Lisa Porter, who has been nominated to be the under secretary of defense for research and engineering.

Some congressional staffers have said they are concerned Porter and Shaffer's jobs will be long vacant as the Pentagon reorganizes its entire acquisition management structure.